The Squadron of Destruction patrolled area near the camp, standing on a hill and looked at the valley below. 

Arrow stomped his foot impatiently, searching something - What is taking them so long!? Why did Monstrox give us new scouts if they are lost without news in the meadow! I knew it was a bad idea!

- Patience, they're rookies, it's obvious that they are not good at first. - (Y/N) replied with calmness.

- But they are an hour late! This is unacceptable! - Arrow growled furiously. - As soon as they return, I'm firing them!

Jane rolled her eyes in exasperation. - Shut up, Arrow, cause you're drawing attention to yourself, and this is Lance's job.

- Hey! - Lance called out indignantly, poking her on the shoulder. Jane giggled at the look on his face.

- They'll be back, we've trained them, so without any problem they should come back and report to us.... even though late. Let's give them a chance. - Nightmare Knight said, breathing in the cold air. Axe, who was sitting next to them calmly on the grass turned his gaze and heard panicked screams in the distance.

- Or maybe not? 

- What's does that mean? - (Y/N) replied. Axe pointed his finger in the direction of one of the scouts running toward them who shouting and waving his arms wildly.

The Squadron of Destruction exchanged confused glances and turned toward him. Axe got up from the ground to stop the little monster.

- Commander, Commander!!

- What happened? Where's the rest of your unit? - (Y/N) asked in surprise. The monster stopped with a slight skid, panting, and quickly looked behind him with fear.

- Knights of Nexo! They attacked us while we were checking the area and smashed my companions in five seconds! They had a stone knight with them, it was he who destroyed them! I was the only one who managed to escape. 

(Y/N) groaned and slapped her forehead. - End of vacation.

- I told you that they wanna be our enemies. - Mace said with satisfaction on her face. (Y/N) sighed as she looked at her in exasperation.

- It was obvious. - Arrow said.

- Thank you for your opinions. - (Y/N) said sarcastically and rolled her eyes. - We won't do anything better about it. Let's move out! 

-------------------------

 Clay was walking through the Fortrex's corridors to get to the command center to devise a plan with his team. As he stopped just before the door and was about to press the button to open the door, he heard a loud conversation among the knights about him. He stopped and confused leaned against the wall to listen to their talk.

- The whole idea was to capture a monster but once again Clay's out of control thirst of vengeance has comprimsed a mission. - Aaron said, still upset that his next plan was destroyed by the stone knight. 

- And he almost comprimsed my face. - Lance agreed.

- That does sounds dire, on the other hand the Gray Knight have been a formidable assest in depleting Jestro's forces, Am I correct? - Merlok asked.

- Maybe so, but I miss the old Clay. Good, kind and respectful of the knigh's code. - Macy said.

- Magical curses can be tricky business, of course we want to cure him fully, make him human again, same with (Y/N). I working on it, belive me. 

- In the meantime, I guess we just  have to watch our backs, he might go off any minute like a firework with a bad fuse. -  Aaron said.

At this, Clay furrowed his eyebrows and growled, putting his hands together to stop himself from exploding in anger.

- And I like the new Clay. At least I don't have to do the worst job. - Axl said.

Clay sighed heavily and sadness appeared on his face. Despite how much he denied it, his friends were right. His stone form was useful in battle, but it was also dangerous for him and for everyone around him. More and more, Clay let himself get carried away by his emotions and did something under the influence of rage, and he himself didn't know why this was happening.

Clay went to the exit and pressed the button opening the drawbridge to leave Fortrex. He needed to leave and think about his recent behavior, who he is now, and whether that is good or bad. He needed to find himself.

----------------

- We are wasting time coming to this dump. We were supposed to go recruit an army, and we are already endangering ourselves by having only these two little goblins and these six as our bodyguards. Why did I agree to give Ruina and the other monsters to give them time off? Stupid labor laws. - Jestro has been complaining for about ten minutes now.

- I wonder about that too, Jestro. Why did you give others time off while we have to work for everyone while protecting your clownish butt. - (Y/N) growled in response, stopping at the ruins of the castle.

- If you complain so much that we are not so good warriors for you, then we don't have to protect you at all and let you die. - Jane said with a sarcastic smile. Rest of her companions nodded their heads in agreement.

- These ruins, used to be the largest castle in the Halps, until I used the Forbidden Power, Devious Devastation on it. - Monstrox explained.

- Thank you, Mr. Guide, but.... This helps us how? - Jestro asked confused.

- Press that block without moss. - Monstrox said. Jestro shrugged his shoulders and walked closer to the castle ruin and pressed the mossless block, the rubble began to shake and the wall  showed a hidden statue of Rogul with another Forbidden Power. Roberto Arnoldi and Jestro sighed in surprise and Monstrox laughed mischievously before firing a lightning bolt at Rogul, reviving him.

- Forbidden Power of Devious Devastation.

Jestro took the power board from Rogul and put it in his staff. - And just like before... It helps us how?

- Another Forbidden Power, another step closer to completing the quest. You'll see when you use it. - Monstrox said.

- Can we just go from here? - (Y/N) asked sarcastically. - I wanna get this mission over with so I can finally rest.... Next time I demand a day off for me and my squadron! We have done the most out of the entire army and we still have to work!

-------------------

They have reached the next town in the kingdom. - Welcome to Rockstead, a town completely built of stone. Storms, earthquakes bounce off these walls without leaving a scratch. These people are not afraid of anything. - Monstrox said. The woman suddenly pushed her way through the group and yawned wearily, completely ignoring the presence of the monsters.

- Good job! Great target to attack in twelve. - Jestro said. Monstrox shook his head. - We won't attack, we came to recruit an army. Use the Forbidden Power of Devious Devastation on a building, any building.

(Y/N) when she heard about recruiting new monsters for the army groaned and banged her head against the wheel of Jestro's Evil Mobile and shook her head. - This will never end...

Jestro smiled ominously and began destroying the buildings around him. People didn't care at all about the attack on their town, they just looked on confused, not knowing what to do. Rubble from the buildings fell to the ground and Arnoldi carved their faces, while Monstrox brought them to life, creating new monsters.

- Monsters of poor quality... No, I refuse to train them! Let Ruina and Garg take care of them. - (Y/N) growled and sat down on a stone to watch the jester's actions.

- I couldn't agree more, Sir. - Arrow said and leaned against the wheel of the evil mobile and watched with boredom. New monsters began to smash everything around and run havock.

Axe yawned wearily and looked around. His eyes lit up with interest when he saw reporters from the Knighton News Network and his gaze stopped on the camera that one of the cameramen was holding. He licked his lips with a taste and started walking toward them.

- Erm... Sir? Axe is leaving. - Lance said, poking (Y/N) with his hand. She raised her gaze and her eyes widened. The reporters didn't realize that the stone monster was coming towards them and were still talking to the camera. 

Suddenly Alice Squiers was grabbed by the leg and lifted off the ground. Alice screamed as she came face to face with Jane, who was looking at her with a mischievous grin.

- What a cute little droid. - Jane scoffed, laughing.

- Excuse me! I'm Alice Squiers, chief news reporter for the Knighton News Network, and you have no right to...! - her screams were interrupted when Jane started shaking her like a rag doll, still holding her leg.

Axe took over the camera from the cameraman and looked curiously straight into the lens. - What is this thing? Cool. Can I eat it? - he said to himself and began to open his mouth wide to devour the camera.

- AXE DON'T EAT IT!!! - (Y/N) screamed with a hiss and tried to snatch the camera out of the hands of the rebellious giant.

- What do you mean I can't eat it? It looks totally fine! - Axe whined like a small child, trying to take the camera from her hands.

- You don't eat cameras! Besides, you don't know where it lay and who touched it! Leave it, let it go! - (Y/N) demanded, struggling for the camera like a tired mother trying to stop her child from eating an object. - You stubborn boulder, leave it!

- No, it's mine!

(Y/N) growled and let go of the device, giving up. - If you die it won't be my fault! - she called over her shoulder as she walked toward Monstrox and the new army.

Axe smiled and looked at the camera like a million dollars, before taking a big bite and eating half of the device like a candy bar. Lance sent him a weird look as he held Herb Herbertson by the collar of his shirt. The roar of the machine sounded and everyone looked at the incoming Fortrex.

- Oh no, not them again.... - Arrow groaned in annoyance and dropped the cameraman he was holding above the ground. The robot fell to the ground with a clang before terrified ran away.

(Y/N) and the others drew their weapons, preparing to attack. Monstrox, though, appeared next to the Nightmare Knight. - No, this fight is for the recruits to see if Arnoldi's work has paid off.

- What!? You think these piles of stones, will be able to win with them!!? This is ridiculous!!

- Silence! I decided. You go watch this clown.

(Y/N) looked at him in shock before growling furiously and backing away. The Rubblers moved to attack Nexo Knights. The Squadron of Destruction wanted to move to attack, but were stopped by her.

- Why don't we attack! - Arrow demanded.

- Monstrox's order. We are to stand by and watch how the recruits are doing. - (Y/N) replied in an equally upset tone.

- Seriously!!? Then why did they even hire us today if we don't do anything anyway!? - Mace asked in disbelief and kicked a small pebble.

- Beats me. - Jane shrugged her shoulders.

Axe unconcernedly stood beside them and busied himself with the camera with a smile. Arrow watched with growing fury as the Rubblers forced the knights to retreat.

- Tomorrow. I'm taking the day off and I don't care. - (Y/N) said.

- Well, without power they are useless. - Lance remarked as they looked at the knights.

- Nexo Knights.... UNITE!!!

- I was wrong.

- Don't let them power! Do something! - Monstrox yelled. Arrow, who held his crossbow in his hands the whole time, immediately took aim and perfectly fired an energy bullet straight at the Fortrex transmitter, then fired another bullet at the launcher on the roof and shot it down.

- Perfect shot, captain. Now destroy them!!- (Y/N) roared at the Rubblers, who under her voice moved to attack. After a while, they saw Robin and several squirebots on the roof, which began to form a totem of themselves to serve as a nexo power transmitter.

- Jane... Make your move. - (Y/N) said, raising her fist into the air. Jane reached for three arrows from her quiver and strung them on the stone bow.

- Ready on command, Commander.

- Aim...

Jane narrowed her eyes and took a deep breath as she aimed her bow at the robot at the very top of the tower.

- Fire!!

She released three arrows that flashed straight at the three squirebots, who immediately fell to the ground after a perfect head shot.

- Excellent job, sergeant. - Arrow said and patted her on the shoulder. - Now it's my turn. - He said with a mischievous grin and reloaded his crossbow. He aimed straight at Robin on the roof.

- Wait, wait! You want to kill the kid, are you crazy!? - Lance looked at him in shock.

- An enemy is an enemy. No matter what age. - He replied in a low voice and put his fingers on the trigger. A strong hand caught his crossbow and pointed it toward the ground.

- No, no, captain. We are monsters, but we will not kill the child. - Jane said in a stern voice, shaking her head.

- You are not the one giving orders here. Commander?

- She is right. Don't shoot the little rat, his time will come yet. - (Y/N) replied, all the while keeping her eyes on the battlefield.

- What!?

- That was an order, Captain. Stand down.

Arrow growled and put down his crossbow. Nexo's Knights, having no choice, ordered a retreat and Fortrex began to drive toward the mountain range.

- They are retreating into the mountains. They'll have highground there. - (Y/N) said to Monstrox.

- We go after them, trap them and at the end push them into the abyss! Gather the Rubblers, we're going after that moving fortress!!! - Monstrox called out in a thunderous voice.

- Today we will finish off the Nexo Knights once and for all!!- Jestro yelled and laughed darkly. (Y/N) squirmed awkwardly as she stared into space, her hand slowly reached for her heart and clenched her teeth with an embarrassed expression.

- What happened, Commander? - Mace asked.

- Nothing... My brother, who is having an existential crisis and talking to rocks. - she replied with disgust in her voice and started walking.

- What!? 

--------------------

Fortrex was heading through a tight road uphill. Merlok found it difficult to control the huge fortress.

- Merlok don't be a distracted driver. - Ava rebuked as she looked nervously at the computer screen seeing the difficult road to drive through the camera outside.

- I use my magic focus to keep my eyes on the road. - Merlok answered her, trying to focus.

- I don't like retreating. - Axl growled.

- We are not retreating, but heading in a different direction. - Aaron replied with a smile.

- Yeah, towards the mountains with no way out, if we want to go back we will definitely meet stone monsters with our stone doubles and (Y/N) who are ready to kill us. - Lance said with worry.

- We buy time for Robin so he can fix the nexo power relay, remember? - Macy said.

- Exactly. Zero pressure. - Robin replied nervously.

- If I remember correctly, a good old friend of mine used to live in Halps. The Great Rockowski, we should find him. - Merlok said.

- The Great Rockowski? He was probably a great magician. - Macy said.

- Well... He could make a building collapse in seconds. He was the first demolition expert in the kingdom and one day he ended up, no one knows why. He may be the man who can help us. - Merlok explained.

Fortrex reached the top of the mountain and in front of them was a stone house, in front of which a man was lazily sitting in a chair and sipping a drink from a can as he watched the oncoming fortress. Fortrex stopped a few meters in front of the house and Merlok appeared on the screen.

- The Great Rockowski!

- My old buddy, Merlok. It was a lot time ago! - Rockowski replied with a wry smile. Knights went outside to talk to him.

- Mr. Rockowski, we are the Nexo Knights. Merlok said you could help us. - Aaron said when they stopped three steps in front of him.

- I'm no Mr. Rockowski, man.

- Aren't you the great demolition expert, the Great Rockowski? - Macy asked.

- I used to be, now I'm not! Here everyone calls me Slab, yeah, just Slab.

- Okay... "Just Slab". Will you help us? - Aaron asked.

- We're followed by an evil army of stone monsters who are ready to destroy us. - Lance said. - Add six more stone knights who are virtually indestructible.

- Bummer. I can't help you, I'm just a plain old retired man. Now I'm sitting in my chair, sipping drinks and making art.

- Erm... There is nothing here but trees. - Lance said, looking at the man with a strange look.

- These are works of art, man!

-All the trees look the same! - Axl exclaimed.

- They look like Donny, my favorite demolition ball!

The Nexo Knights exchanged concerned glances, uncertain about the man's mental health. - So. You and Donny, you're all alone here, right?

- No, no! I would go crazy here, man! There's also a bunny. - Rockowski said, when suddenly a white rabbit jumped into his arms.

- Weirdo.... - Lance sang under his breath. Macy poked him in the stomach with a stern look with her elbow.

------------------------

Jestro's evil moblie was heading across the trail to where Fortrex had gone. (Y/N) sat on the deck with her legs crossed and her eyes closed, trying to focus. After a moment, a blinding white light flashed, forcing her to clench her eyes shut.

When she opened them, she saw that she was in a vast white void in which a chill reigned. She looks around confused, but sees nothing but herself. No walls, no sound, except her nervous breathing.

- Okay... This is weird. - she mutters to herself.

Suddenly, in the distance, she sees a black shadow of a figure holding the staff. She squinted to get a closer look before slowly walking toward it. The figure unnaturally moved like a fog, which forced her to stop. 

- Hello? Who is there!? - she called out. The person didn't answer, just looked at her with gray eyes that stuck like knifes into her soul. An anxious shudder went through her. - Who are you! What do you want!?

The figure's lips twisted in a sly smile and her eyes shone mischievously. They giggled under their breath and after a moment disappeared in a black streak. (Y/N) raised her eyebrows in surprise and looked around for the figure. Suddenly a shadow appeared in front of her and she jumped up in shock, leaping away from them.

- What do you want you witch? Isn't it enough that you torment me every day, then you still have to haunt me in my dreams? - (Y/N) asked sarcastically.

- Great power is within you. You don't have to be afraid of it, you are not alone in this. - Ruina said in a distorted voice.

- Me? Afraid? Hah! I'm not afraid of anything, old witch. It's others who should be afraid of me. - she replied with satisfaction. Ruina laughed, which surprised her.

- You need to unleash your true power, find out who you really are.

- Mhm... And you're going to help me do that, right? No thanks.

- You're hiding what is hidden inside you. Look deep inside yourself, let your pain out, let your anger grow and it will turn into a powerful force. Open your eyes, open your eyes!

- I have them open. Otherwise I wouldn't have seen you. You have a day off and bored that you necessarily need to annoy me during a mission?

Ruina Stoneheart growled furiously at the bold knight and her lips twisted into a grimace. Her eyes shone brighter and her hair suddenly became a flash of lightning. - STUPID CHILD! You have the potential inside you, you just don't want to unleash it! You don't want to accept the power, you don't want it! Why!?

- Okay... I knew you were crazy, but that much? Besides, why do you care what I have inside? I thought you don't care about my existence.

Ruina growled again and shook her head again. Her gaze softened and she looked down conflicted. (Y/N) looked at her more and more surprised and with a slight sense of guilt. - Erm... Are you all right?

Ruina shifted her gaze back to her and looked at her.... sad? The knight blinked several times. The witch's eyes flashed from yellow to royal blue like Clay's eyes. - No... I'm not... You two don't know.

- What? 

Ruina's eyes turned yellow again and her face darkened again. - IT'S ALL HIS FAULT!!!

- Who!? What's going on?!

Ruina growled and fired a lightning bolt from her hair straight at (Y/N)'s chest. The force of the lightning threw her back hard. (Y/N) opened her eyes with a scream and looked around panicked, panting heavily.

The evil mobile was still on the move and it was still day. Jestro and Monstrox with Arnoldi were on the bridge and talking. Everything was all right.

(Y/N) sighed and rubbed her face with her hand. - It was just a nightmare.... Cursed Ruina. What's was her problem?